It’s our final read along of 2022, and we’re so excited to be talking about KJ Charles’s Band Sinister — one of Jen’s favorite books (she won the coin toss when we picked which of KJ’s books we were going to read). This one has all the things we love: found family, sexy rakes, gentlemen’s societies, meddling sisters, anonymous gothic novelists, hot doctors, and more. We talk about how KJ writes a beautiful book, that seems to use all the necessary words and nothing more, and makes us think differently about the world and our place in it. Do yourself a favor and read it right now.

This is the last traditional episode of the year — Our next full length episode will be our New Year’s Eve episode and it’s a doozy — we suggest putting your headphones in right now to be prepared.

Thank you, as always, for listening. If you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your favorite podcasting app, we would be very grateful.

Thanks to Jaye Viner, author of Jane of Battery Park, and to Lumi Labs for sponsoring the episode. Visit microdose.com and use the code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order and free shipping.

Show Notes

• Band Sinister is a stand alone romance published by KJ Charles in 2018. If you loved it as much as we did, go read Sarah's favorite, Wanted: A Gentleman, next.
• Publishing is on fire, or it least it seems that way. The USA Today Bestseller List is gone, at least until further notice, but the New York Times list lives on. In other news this week, Book Forum is shutting down, and so is Buzzfeed Books. Oh, and the HarperCollins Union is on strike (we stand with them, and will not be doing deep dives of HarperCollins books until the strike is resolved).
• So what we want to know is: Who is putting together Block Club Chicago and the Defector…but for books.
• What’s a sawbones?
• Oh, so that’s why Corvin, Raven, and Rookwood are called the Murder.
• There is a whole lotta Latin in the Two Cathedrals episode of The West Wing.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2022/12/19/s0514-band-sinister-by-kj-charles
• If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.